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LSAT_LG I Session Materials Part One LSAT Reasoning LSAT Reasoning REFLECTION (COMPLETE CHAPTERS)
Typology: Exercises
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Welcome to your LSAT studies! By the time you reach the end of this book, you’ll have practiced all of the skills and strategies necessary to master the LSAT. While it is common to divide the LSAT into sections and further divide those sections into question types, there are core thinking, reading, and reasoning skills rewarded throughout the test. In this chapter, you’ll build important critical thinking and reasoning skills that lay the groundwork for all that is to come.
Every section of the LSAT rewards an ability to distinguish correct answers based on what must be true, what is possible (could be true or false), and what must be false.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
In this section, you’ll learn to:
· Characterize the levels of truth in statements (and thus of the correct and incorrect answers in various LSAT question stems)
The following chart shows how central this skill is to your LSAT performance.
All LSAT Questions
Questions Testing Levels of Truth
*PrepTests 66–80; released 2012–
42%
CHAPTER 1
Characterizing Levels of Truth
Review how an LSAT expert characterizes the truth value of the correct and incorrect answers in two standard LSAT question stems.
Which one of the following must be true? (^) → Right answers: Must be true Wrong answers: Could be false or must be false
Each of the following must be false EXCEPT (^) → Right answers: Could be true or must be true Wrong answers: Must be false
To understand how the expert characterized the answer choices, look at this chart.
Must True Could False
For all LSAT questions that ask for what must be true, could be true, could be false , or must be false , the correct answer combines one degree of certainty with one of the charges. The incorrect answers will combine the other degree of certainty to the other charge.
TEST DAY TIP
Any statement that must be true, could be true. Any statement that must be false, could be false. If the LSAT asks for a correct answer that must be false , you know the four wrong answers could be true , and thus, any answer that must be true is a wrong answer in that question.
Learning to characterize the correct and incorrect answer choices is the LSAT’s most direct way of testing your ability to distinguish levels of truth, but the testmaker rewards this skill on statements made by the authors of Logical Reasoning arguments and Reading Comprehension passages as well.
LSAT STRATEGY
The LSAT always gives you exactly one right answer, so there’s only ever one answer that falls into the level of truth targeted by the question stem.
CHAPTER 1
Here’s how an LSAT expert would characterize those question stems.
→ Correct answer: A bid Manny could refuse Wrong answers: Bids Manny must accept
Correct answer: An action that does not conflict with the company guidelines Wrong answers: Actions that conflict with the company guidelines
Correct answer: A piece that cannot be included in the performance Wrong answers: Pieces that could be included in the performance
→ Correct answer: Must be false Wrong answers: Could be true
→ Correct answer: Must be true Wrong answers: Could be false
LSAT Reasoning
For each of the following, make a note of which level or levels of truth the correct answer must display. Then make a note of which level or levels of truth the wrong answer choices will display.
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LSAT Reasoning
Every time you practice LSAT problems in this book, pause afterward and look over your practice to learn more. Don’t speed through this step. Carefully reviewing your practice can enrich your understanding of:
For the exercises you just completed, look back at your work and think about these questions:
TEST DAY TIP
On the LSAT, never confuse true and false statements with right and wrong answers. Always characterize what you’re looking for before you evaluate the answer choices. You may even find it helpful to jot down what you’re looking for. For example, in a “Must Be False” question you could jot down “1 MBF / 4 CBT” to signify there is one correct answer that must be false and four incorrect answers that could be true.
CHAPTER 1
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
In this section, you’ll learn to:
· (^) Determine what must be true, what could be true or false, and what must be false given a set of statements
In all sections of the LSAT, you will be asked to deduce what must, could, and cannot be true based on statements or rules presented by the testmaker. Often, you will need to combine statements to make the relevant inferences. Take a look at a brief example.
(1) Ainsley owns at least two red shirts. (2) Ainsley has worn every shirt she owns. Determine the level of truth for each of the following statements: Must be true; could be true or false; or must be false Ainsley owns a blue shirt. (^) → Could be true or false: No information has been given on blue shirts. Ainsley has worn a red shirt. (^) → Must be true: She owns red shirts and has worn every shirt she owns. Ainsley owns four red shirts. →
Could be true or false: The statement does not specify that she owns exactly two red shirts—she could own more. Ainsley owns red shirts she has never worn. (^) → Must be false: She has worn every shirt she owns.
LSAT STRATEGY
When two statements contain the same term(s), ask how the statements are related and how information in one defines or limits the information in the other.
CHAPTER 1
Here’s how an LSAT expert would have analyzed the premises and determined the levels of truth for the statements in the preceding exercise.
(1) Bob’s fruit stand sells blueberries but not kiwis.
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Deductions: Today, I bought blueberries and every day I buy blueberries, I buy kiwis. Thus, I must have bought kiwis today. Since Bob’s fruit stand does not sell kiwis, I must have bought at least some fruit from a location other than Bob’s fruit stand. I may have purchased my blueberries and strawberries from Bob’s (the first statement doesn’t say blueberries are the only fruit Bob’s sells), or I may have gotten all of my fruit elsewhere.
(2) Every day I buy blueberries, I also buy kiwis.
(3) Today, I bought blueberries and strawberries.
Determine the level of truth for each of the following statements: Must be true; could be true or false; or must be false
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This could be true or false. While Bob’s fruit stand does NOT sell at least one of the items purchased (kiwis), no statement requires me to purchase all of my fruit from the same place. It is possible I bought some fruit from Bob’s.
This must be true. I purchased blueberries today, which means I also purchased kiwis; however, Bob’s fruit stand does not sell kiwis, which means I must have purchased them from some place other than Bob’s fruit stand.
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This could be true or false. No statement defines whether Bob’s fruit stand sells strawberries. The first statement says that Bob’s fruit stand sells blueberries (and not kiwis), but is silent on whether Bob’s fruit stand sells other fruit.
LSAT Reasoning
In the following exercise, you are given a set of premises and a set of statements that may or may not be valid deductions given those premises. Note whether each would-be deduction is true, false, or merely possible.
(1) Duane’s Toys carries purple beach balls and green beach balls.
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(2) The department store downtown carries only red beach balls.
(3) On any day Millie buys a beach ball, she always buys at least two, one for each of her nieces.
(4) Today, Millie bought a purple beach ball.
Determine the level of truth for each of the following statements: Must be true; could be true or false; or must be false
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LSAT Reasoning
In every section of the LSAT, the testmaker rewards you for being able to make valid deductions from the statements, assertions, or rules presented. As you review your practice throughout this course, consider the following questions:
For the exercises you just completed, look back at your work and think about the following:
CHAPTER 2
Identify Conditional Statements
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
In this section, you’ll learn to:
· Identify what is and is not a conditional statement (that is, understand what it means for a statement to be a conditional statement)
Before you can work with conditional statements to make valid deductions and inferences (and answer LSAT questions), you must be able to identify such statements.
LSAT STRATEGY
Every conditional statement has two parts:
Consider this conditional statement:
If you are in Australia, then you are south of the Equator.
Knowing that you are in Australia is sufficient to know that you are south of the Equator. Likewise, being south of the Equator is necessary to being in Australia. But be careful: Being in Australia is not necessary to being south of the Equator (after all, you might be in Madagascar or Argentina). Similarly, knowing that you are south of the Equator is not sufficient to know that you are in Australia.
Conditional relationships can be expressed in many ways other than the “If... then” sentence structure. Take a look at how an LSAT expert identifies conditional statements.
Is each of the following a conditional statement? The State of Pennsylvania requires a building permit for structures larger than 100 square feet.
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Yes. Because a building permit is a requirement for structures larger than 100 square feet, it’s a necessary condition. Whenever Bill eats cereal, he also drinks coffee. →^
Yes. The word whenever indicates that Bill will drink coffee every time he eats cereal. Eating cereal is the trigger, or the sufficient condition. Patty stopped to smell the flowers. (^) → No. This is just an action that Patty performed. All of the jelly beans in this jar are either red or blue. →^
Yes. Because this concerns all of the jelly beans in the jar, we know that each jelly bean in the jar must be either red or blue.
Formal Logic
In the following exercise, read each statement and decide whether it expresses a conditional relationship. If it does, which term is sufficient and which is necessary?
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Formal Logic
In the following exercise, read each statement and decide whether it expresses a conditional relationship. If it does, which term is sufficient and which is necessary?
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CHAPTER 2
Here’s how an LSAT expert would analyze those statements.
Yes. This could be written: If you are to stay healthy, then you must exercise at least twice a week. According to this statement, a person’s staying healthy is sufficient to establish that she exercises at least twice per week, and her exercising at least twice per week is necessary to her continued health.
Yes. This could be written: If a competitor is eligible for the event, then he has a signed medical waiver. A competitor’s eligibility is sufficient evidence that he has a signed medical waiver; a signed medical waiver is necessary for eligibility.
Yes. This could be written: If you can vote for chapter president, then your dues are paid. Being able to vote is sufficient to know that your dues are paid. Having your dues paid is necessary to be able to vote.